21:33 - 17 September 2004
bonds 700th homer!
09/17/2004 8:30 PM ET
Bonds joins exclusive 700 club
Slugger now only 14 homers shy of Ruth's mark
Barry Bonds passed godfather Willie Mays on the all-time homer list earlier this year.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Next up, Babe Ruth.
San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds became the third player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 700-homer plateau Friday at SBC Park when he smacked a solo shot off Padres right-hander Jake Peavy to lead off the third inning. After hitting No. 699 at Arizona on Sunday, Bonds went homerless during a three-game series in Milwaukee before returning home and tallying the milestone.
Now all eyes will turn to Bonds' chase of the Great Bambino, the New York Yankees power hitter who finished his Hall of Fame career at 714. Bonds is only 14 away, but with 14 games left, he has already said he doesn't expect to reach the hallowed mark until early next season.
Beyond that, Hank Aaron, the all-time leader, is 55 homers away at 755. At the earliest, the 40-year-old Bonds likely won't reach the Hammer until sometime in 2006, if Bonds remains healthy. Giants manager Felipe Alou said he expects Bonds to be relentless about getting there.
"At 40, there's not many guys playing every day, practically, playing in the outfield," Alou said. "Maybe playing third base or designated hitter, but playing left field every day? You dive there, you might die there. If he dislocates his shoulder, then who is going to hit your home runs for you? Who's going to help this team?"
The homer was his 41st of the season. Previously, Bonds had passed the 40-homer mark for the fifth straight season and eighth in his 19-year career, all with the Giants, tying the National League record held by Aaron. Ruth, who had 11 in the American League -- all with the New York Yankees -- holds the Major League mark.
Alou said the feat of reaching 700 homers ranks up there with the tops in MLB history.
"Hitting 700 homers is like a pitcher winning 400 games," Alou said.
Only two pitchers have done that -- Cy Young (511) and Walter Johnson (417).
Alou was in the dugout this past April 12 in San Francisco when Bonds tied his godfather, Willie Mays, for third on the all-time list when he hit his 660th home run. He hit 661 the next day and has since left Mays in the dust.
Bonds' 660th began a season of personal milestones, which also included Ken Griffey Jr.'s 500th homer and Greg Maddux notching his 300th victory.
At the time he passed Mays, though, Bonds didn't anticipate racing toward the 700-mark so fast.
"It just sort of came up on me," said Bonds, who has maintained in recent days that getting to 700 isn't any big deal. The real milestones are still ahead.
"You look at 715 and 756, those are really big," Alou said.
It seems like only yesterday that Bonds reached the 600-homer plateau. It happened little more than two years ago -- Aug. 17, 2002 -- against the Pittsburgh Pirates' Kip Wells at what was then called Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco.
In fact, all of his greatest career home run milestones have come at the Giants' five-year-old ballpark on King Street south of downtown San Francisco with its right-field wall flanking McCovey Cove -- 500, 600, 660 and 661.
Aaron also cracked Nos. 500, 600 and 700 at home at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, while Ruth hit all three of those milestone homers on the road.
In the case of Bonds' 500th homer, which came on April 17, 2001 -- early during the season in he hit a single-season record 73 homers -- it came only two days after he smacked No. 499.
It took only three days between homers 599 and 600, but Bonds struggled for a week this year between hitting No. 659 on Opening Night at Houston against Roy Oswalt and blasting out 660 against the Milwaukee Brewers' Matt Kinney.
Now, it's the Babe or bust.
